Pinto gets breather after bruising hand on hit-by-pitch

By Rhett Bollinger / MLB.com

MINNEAPOLIS -- Catcher Josmil Pinto, who was hit on his right hand by a pitch on Friday night, was held out of the lineup on Saturday against the Indians.

Pinto was hit on his hand by a 94-mph fastball from right-hander Corey Kluber in the fourth inning, and he came out of the game after the inning. But X-rays came back negative and he was diagnosed with a bruised hand.

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said Pinto is available to pinch-hit and wasn't going to start at catcher on Saturday anyways, as it was a day game after a night game. Eric Fryer made his third start of the season behind the plate in Pinto's absence.

"He's OK," Gardenhire said. "I think he could probably play if you really forced the issue. We didn't plan on playing him today after catching last night. This gives us a good chance to put in Fryer, who has worked his butt off."

The Twins are hopeful Pinto will be able to play in Sunday's season finale. The 24-year-old is hitting .342 with four homers, five doubles and 12 RBIs in 21 games this year since being called up from Triple-A Rochester on Aug. 31.

"[Pinto] might be able to go tomorrow," Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. "He's day to day. He took a pretty good shot to the hand. We'll play him if he's healthy."

Ryan to talk to Gardenhire about future with Twins

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire, who doesn't have a contract for next season, expects to know his situation early next week.

Gardenhire said he plans on meeting with general manager Terry Ryan shortly after the season ends to discuss his future with the club. That meeting and decision is expected to happen as soon as Monday, as the Twins don't want to distract from baseball's postseason, which begins on Tuesday.

Gardenhire, who has managed the team since 2002, is the second-longest tenured manager in baseball behind the Angels' Mike Scioscia. He has 998 career victories with two more games to go this season. He's led the franchise to six division titles, but the Twins have lost more than 90 games in each of the last three seasons.

"We'll talk," Gardenhire said. "I don't have an opinion on anything other than trying to get through two games and see if we can win a game or two and go from there. We'll see how it all shakes out. I'm hoping to have a conversation with Terry about everything. I want to see what his plan is."

Ryan said he still hasn't made any decisions regarding the club's coaching staff next season. He said he'll wait until after the year to talk to Gardenhire about his contract status, and if he'll remain the manager moving forward.

Worth noting

• Right-hander Liam Hendriks became the first Twins pitcher with at least eight strikeouts in a game this season when he struck out eight in 4 2/3 innings in relief on Friday night. Hendriks struck out 15 batters over 10 2/3 innings in his last two relief appearances of the season.

• With 10 strikeouts on Friday, the Twins have struck out 1,401 times this season, which ranks as the third most in Major League history. The 2013 Astros rank second all-time with 1,511 strikeouts, while the '10 D-backs hold the dubious record with 1,529 strikeouts.

• Trevor Plouffe set a career high for hits in a month with 33 after picking up three more hits on Friday. The third baseman's 33 hits in September ranks sixth in the American League.